


You're the Only One (For Me)

by ultraviolet_violet



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Best Friends to Lovers, Breakup, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Soulmate marks, Soulmates, bughead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:13:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25761916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultraviolet_violet/pseuds/ultraviolet_violet
Summary: Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper we’re perfect. Everyone knew that the night their marks appeared, they would match - they had nothing to worry about. And, because of this, they had their life planned out to a tee. It started from where they would go to college, to which nursing home they’d end up in when they were ninety and were too physically ill to do anything for themselves.But in a matter of seconds, these plans can go flying out the window with one little burst of fate. They’re whole futures would have to be rewritten and while one rises into a fit of anger, the other finds comfort in who their mark brings to them.
Relationships: Archie Andrews & Betty Cooper, Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper & Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper/Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones/Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge & Archie Andrews, Veronica Lodge & Jughead Jones
Comments: 10
Kudos: 57





	You're the Only One (For Me)

**Author's Note:**

> *DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT A BARCHIE ONE SHOT* 
> 
> hi, i honestly can’t believe i wrote a one shot like this. i always told myself i wouldn’t but here i am lol. 
> 
> so this was originally going to be a multi chapter fic, but it became a one shot instead. i tried to make it cute and fluffy, although i’m not always the best at doing that. 
> 
> anyway, i hope y’all enjoy this (even though it is super basic and everyone has written a one shot or fic like this before) and all your comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!

They all had been counting down the days for this day. They had even been counting down the hours. This was the biggest moment of their lives - well, for now it was. One day there would come a time that would be even better than this moment, but this was by far the most exciting moment they had ever faced in their 18 years of life. 

There were three types of marks you could get. The most generic version was identical ones. These ones were the exact same image and looked as if they were mirroring each other perfectly. 

The second kind were ones that finished each other. It could be an empty square and their soulmate would have the filled inversion of the shape or image. This type of mark was pretty generic, but it didn't happen as much as the identical ones.

The third one you could get was corresponding ones. Theses tended to be handed out to people with weirdly high IQ's because very few people could actually figure them out. Normally, you had to know your soulmate very, _very_ well in order to understand what the mark means. That's why these marks were considered rare. They were saved for the smartest people to walk the earth. 

Everyone sat gathered around in Betty’s living room, waiting anxiously for the clock to strike midnight. They were antsy for the results of what would come out of this night. Their soulmate marks meant more to them than anything. The four of them - Archie, Veronica, Betty and Jughead - had been discussing this day since they had learned to talk.

Veronica and Archie had gone home from school with Betty, not wanting to miss a single second of the day just in case their marks miraculously appeared early - there hadn’t ever been an encounter of that happening to anyone, but they were teenagers, they felt that it was a lie and that it had to have happened at least once. 

Jughead had chosen against going to Betty’s with them. He made up an excuse that he was needed at the bar to do some cleaning before he could come over - his dad’s orders. Veronica had shrugged and moved on, Archie giving him an understanding nod as he wrapped his arm protectively around Betty’s shoulders. She had frowned at him, obviously hurt (because Betty Cooper could fish a lie out of him almost as well as she could get a stain out of his shirt) but she moved on with Archie and Veronica reluctantly. 

What Jughead had actually done was go sit and sulk in Pop’s for six hours while brainstorming things to write. He didn’t _really_ want to be there when their marks showed up at all. He didn’t care for this day, not since Betty and Archie had gotten together. 

Ever since that day, he had become a third wheel to all their activities. Of course Betty tried to incorporate Jughead into everything they did on their dates, but it always ended with Archie giving him a weird jealous glare that would make Jughead cower back and say, “No, thank you. I’m all good, Betts.” 

For being his best friend, Archie definitely didn’t trust Jughead around his girlfriend - whom he was also best friends with. 

Everyone knew Betty and Archie's soulmate marks would match. Betty and Archie were the couple everyone envied, giving them no reason to worry about their marks not matching. She was a cheerleader, he was a football player. Perfect fucking match, it was seriously god chosen.

He had showed up at almost 9:30 pm and it had taken Betty no time to open the door and throw herself into his arms. Every time she saw him, she acted like they had been apart for ages. He found it adorable, Archie found it obsessive and wrong. 

“Thank you for coming, Jug.” She said with a small smile as she looked up at him. He just nodded sheepishly, pushing his hands into his pockets so he didn’t start rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. She skipped back over to the couch with a happy giggle, Jughead’s heart warming a little. He had no idea how she was acting before he got there, but he was going to let himself indulge just this once that she got excited to see him. 

He took his shoes off and placed them by the door, moving into the living room and sitting down on the other end of the couch cautiously as if he hadn’t been at her house almost every day since the first grade. Her mother had been his babysitter at one point and he remembered the days at Betty’s always being his favorites.

They were watching a movie, one he didn’t recognize so it must have been something Veronica or Archie picked out, and Betty was snuggled into Archie’s side. Jughead knew he shouldn’t feel like that should be him holding Betty close, but then again, jealousy was a disease and he knew he had been infected. 

He couldn’t help but fall in love with her over the many years they shared together. She was beautiful and kind and selfless. How is one not supposed to fall absolutely head-over-heels for someone like that? Her smile lit up any room she walked into and her laugh could send a storm blowing away in seconds. She was perfect in more ways than one and he couldn’t help his feelings towards her. 

He never planned on telling her how he felt though, especially not after tonight. Betty and Archie’s soulmarks were most certainly going to match and he can’t go against a soulmark. Once you get yours, you can’t ever change it. 

The movie ended and Veronica was sitting up in her seat quickly. “I want to choose the next one.”

“Do we really have to watch another movie?” Everyone’s eyes focused on Betty and she cowered a little under all the gazes. They may all be her friends, and one may even be her boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t intimidate her to a certain extent. “I was just thinking that maybe we could talk or something. We haven’t done that in awhile.” 

“Good idea,” her face lit up at Archie’s reply. “But a movie would pass the time quicker.” Her face fell immediately and Veronica grabbed the remote excitedly. 

“I’m going to go make cookies or something.” She stood up off the couch with a disappointed sigh, setting the blanket she had in Archie’s lap as he went back to whatever he was focused on on his phone. She all but dragged herself into the kitchen, Jughead standing up and following her silently. He set his own phone down on the counter noisily and she turned to look at him, smiling like she had just a few moments earlier. “Hi, Jug.”

He nodded, moving over to where she was pulling a cookbook off the counter. “Do you want help?”

She looked over her shoulder at him, narrowing her eyes. “As long as you promise not to eat half of the dough before they’re made.”

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I promise.” She laughed happily, grinning as she paged through the book for the recipe. “You don’t know how to make these off the top of your head?” He tapped the side of her head and she huffed. 

“There is much more important information that is stored in my head, Jughead.” 

“But Betty Cooper’s infamous chocolate chip cookie recipe is _very_ important information that _needs_ to be stored in there at all times.” She shoved his shoulder lightly and he chuckled, stepping beside her at the sink and washing his hands. They both started making the cookies quickly, laughing and talking about their day like Betty had wanted to do. 

~

She sighed after he had put the last tray into the oven and he straightened, furrowing his brows as he looked at her. “What’s up?” He asked, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms. 

“I don’t know,” she mumbled almost sadly. “I don’t really want Archie or Veronica here.” He gave her an almost shocked look and she just continued to wrap the string from her shorts around her finger. 

“What? Why?” He chuckled around the words, trying to hide the swell of pride he felt. 

She shrugged, dropping the string and looking him in the eye. “This is just, like, a super intimate thing, you know? The moment we get these marks, they tell us who we’re going to be with forever, they basically tell us the person that was made for us. I just… I don’t know. I’d rather it just be you and I.”

“But Archie’s your boyfriend. Don’t you want to know if your marks are going to match?” _Who am I kidding?_ He thought. _She knows their marks are going to match. She just doesn’t want me here so the blow to the gut isn’t so strong._

“Of course I want to know, but not right now.” He nodded, sighing himself. “I mean, you guys aren’t even supposed to be over. If my mom finds out I did this, I’m dead. I’m lucky Polly even left the house. I feel bad for kicking her out, she really wanted to be here when I got my mark. She was almost as excited for mine as she was for her own. If it was just you and I, I wouldn’t have minded Polly being here, but I don’t want her around Archie and Veronica.” 

“Yeah, I understand.” He gave her a lopsided smile and she gave him a small one in return. “So, uh, you’re excited? For your mark?” 

“Ugh,” she groaned and they both laughed. “I don’t know. Am I supposed to be? Is it wrong if I’m really not?” 

“Eh, no. I’m not excited.” She frowned and he knew he should have kept it to himself. 

“Why not? Don’t tell me you’re, like, afraid one isn’t going to show up. There is most definitely a woman who is worthy of dating the one and only Jughead Jones.” She said it dramatically and he laughed, shaking his head. “Why aren’t you excited?”

“Why aren’t you excited? You’ve been waiting for this since you were, like, nine.” She huffed, pouting a little. 

“I guess it’s just lost its appeal towards me over the years. Like, don’t get me wrong, I’m excited, but I don’t know if I really want to know. I like mystery.” 

“Of course, ‘cause you’re the Nancy Drew of Riverdale.”

“Shut up,” she gave him a fake annoyed look and he laughed, straightening and bracing himself on the counter she was sitting on. “Since I told you why I’m not excited, you have to tell me why you're not excited. And you also have to tell me because you trapped me with your body,” he looked between them before he narrowed his eyes at her playfully. “I’m waiting…” she said it in a sing-song voice, holding her chin high. 

“Hm, lets see. Why aren’t I excited to get an obnoxious mark put on my body just for the possibility that I may never _ever_ meet the person with the matching mark?” 

She cupped his cheeks, looking him directly in the eye. “Stop being sad.”

“Woah, that worked very well, Betty.” She dropped her hands and he suddenly missed her touch. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Betts, I’m fine.”

“If you weren’t, you’d tell me, right? Because, without you I’d be lost-”

“Hey,” he cupped her own cheeks and she pouted. “I’m okay, I promise. Everything’s okay. I’m just doing that thing… you know. I’m good, Betts, I swear.” 

A throat was cleared and they turned their heads to look at Archie. “Uh, it’s almost time.” 

“What time is it?” 

“About 11:50.” Jughead stepped away from Betty as Archie basically sized him up, turning around and rubbing his neck. Betty got down off the counter, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Come on.” She gave Jughead a tilt of her head towards the living room and he nodded, trailing behind her and Archie slowly. He watched as Archie whispered something into Betty’s ear, her look upset and angered a moment later. “No, Archie.” Archie held his hands up by his head, the two of them sitting down on the couch. 

“Okay, okay!” Veronica said the words eagerly, hitting Betty’s knee a few times as she moved to be beside her. “Three minutes! Jughead, get over here.” He clenched his jaw, moving to stand just behind them. Betty glanced back and up at him, giving him a reassuring smile. “One minute! Oh my god, this is so nerve wracking!” Betty shrugged, adjusting in her seat so she could see the computer better with the countdown. 

When it got to ten seconds, Veronica, Betty and Archie started to countdown without a thought while Jughead stood behind them silently, looking at his clothed wrist nervously. They all cheered loudly when the grandfather clock Betty had rang with the alert of midnight, all of them turning their arms over to look at their wrists. 

He watched closely as Betty and Archie’s eyes met, their faces numb. “Well? Don’t they match?” Veronica asked excitedly. 

Betty continued to blink at Archie, his gaze slowly trailing to the floor as she shoved his sleeve down over his wrist. “No. They don’t.” Veronica gasped and Archie stood up angrily, Betty following. 

“Archie! Wait, stop!” Jughead’s eyes caught Betty’s mark. It was a small outline of what looked to be a poorly drawn crown. He furrowed his brows, not understanding the meaning behind it - if any of them had meaning. He wondered what Archie’s had been. “Arch, it’s not my fault!”

Jughead heard her sob out the words and he cringed when the door was slammed shut. “That’s not good at all.” Veronica said nonchalantly. “What’s yours?”

“Uh, I-I haven’t looked.” 

Her jaw slacked and she huffed, moving so she was kneeling. “You have to look. Do it.” 

“I don’t want to.” 

“Ugh,” she rolled her eyes, grabbing his wrist and pushing his sleeve up. They both froze, Jughead’s eyes going wide. “Oh my god. Are you going to tell her?”

He pulled his arm from her hold, pushing his sleeve down and stepping back. “I’m leaving.” 

“Jughead, you have to tell her!” He shook his head, clenching his jaw as he moved to the front door. “Jughead!” 

He pulled it open, freezing at Betty and Archie arguing. Betty was on the third to last step, Archie on the sidewalk. 

He walked down the steps sheepishly, clearing his throat. “Arch - Jug, where are you going?” Betty's voice was shaky as she asked the words as measurably as she could manage. 

His heart shattered in his chest at the pained look in her eyes and the tears on her cheeks. “I’ll-I’ll see you Monday, okay?”

“Jug, no. Not you too.” She sobbed again as he apologized silently, moving past her and Archie. He walked down the street, far enough so they couldn’t see him, but not so far to the point he couldn’t still hear Archie call her a selfless brat before he sped off in his car. She had crumbled to the ground, her head falling into her hands as she cried. 

He wanted to walk back over to her, show her his own wrist, show her the matching image he had, but it’d be weird. Too weird at that. 

He stayed and stared at the mark on his wrist. A filled in crown. It seemingly completed her mark. His mark was what hers was missing. “Fuck.” 

~

Jughead walked into school on Monday, keeping his head down. He moved to his homeroom silently, passing Betty’s locker a few times before going into the room. He sat down in his normal seat behind Veronica and she turned around quickly. “Did you see Betty?”

“No.” She sighed and he put his headphones into his bag. 

“They broke up.”

“Okay?” He shrugged, folding his hands on the desk and staring at them. “I’m still not telling her.” 

“No! You have to. Betty would want you to, you know that.” He sank down in his seat, clenching his jaw. “They don’t know that your mark matches hers. They only know it doesn’t match Archie’s.” 

“How do they know?” 

“Archie tweeted about it like a dumb ass.” Veronica rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. “He made everything worse for her.” 

“Because he’s making her look like the bad person here when it’s no one's fault.” Veronica nodded sassily, starting to rant to him about something else. He had drained her out, focusing on the floor as he thought about if he really should tell Betty. 

He knew if he didn’t, she would find out sooner or later because he couldn't hide the mark forever. And he knew if she never found out who her soulmate was, it’d eat her alive until the day she died. But what if he told her, and they got in a relationship, and everything became weird? What if it ruined everything between them?

Sure, they could be flirty sometimes, but that’s just kinda how they were. Neither of them really ever saw it as a sexual manner… he thinks. Yeah, he likes her but he never expected his soulmark to match hers - now he has to tell her how he feels or he’ll be the reason she ends up in a horrific, terrible marriage with someone who also couldn’t find their soulmate. 

He groaned, grabbing his bag and standing up. “Gosh, then she just - hey, where are you going?” He put his headphones back on, leaving her to pout alone as he ran through the halls, slipping out a side door. He hurried over to his bike, pulling it from the rack and getting onto it. He wasn’t sure how fast he pedaled, but he knew he got to her house much quicker than he normally did. 

He pedaled into her driveway, dropping the bike and hopping over the brick they had there to hurry up the stairs. He knocked on the door hastily, trying to calm his breathing. Her mom opened the door. “Shouldn’t you be at-” he pushed past her and she huffed. 

“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Cooper!” He called out, hopping to get his shoes off his feet and almost tripping. “This is super urgent!” He stumbled up the stairs, finally getting his shoes off as he got to her door. He huffed, knocking. “Betts, we have to talk so I’m coming in!” He squeezed his eyes closed as he pushed her door open, dropping his bag and shoes. “Please tell me you’re dressed.”

“Open your eyes.” It was muffled and he did as she said, closing her bedroom door. She was laying in the bed facing the wall, her cheek smushed into her pillow as she sniffled. You could see the guilty look that had visibly been etched onto her face all weekend and it broke his heart to see her blaming herself over something she couldn’t control. 

“Can I lay down?” She nodded and he swallowed thickly, laying down behind her and wrapping his arm around her waist. “It’s not your fault, Betts.”

“But it is.” She sobbed, pulling the blanket up over her head like she used to as a child. He huffed, getting up and getting under the covers. He leaned over her and she sniffled, pouting. “Is everyone talking about me?”

“Screw them, Betts. They’re all blaming you for something you have no control over. And if Archie was genuinely a good person, he wouldn’t have said anything and he wouldn’t be making you feel like this.” She sighed, wiping her face. “Archie didn’t deserve you, not if he was just going to treat you like this.” 

She whined, pushing the blanket off of her and Jughead’s heads. She laid back on her side and he laid back behind her. They were quiet for some time, just laying in silence in her bed before she asked, “What did you have to tell me?” She glanced over her shoulder at him and he clenched his jaw. “Jug,” 

He sighed, clearing his throat. He sat up and she followed, furrowing her brows. His eyes focused on her mark for a moment before he shakily lifted his sleeve. She watched his face in confusion for a moment before she looked at his arm, her confusion changing to shock as her eyes widened. “I didn’t know how to tell you because… I-I just didn’t.” Her gaze moved up to his and she just blinked at him as he said, “I know this can change, like, everything, but it’s not like we can control it.” 

“Why didn’t you just say something? Jug, this is…” 

“Betty, I couldn’t. How do you just say to your best friend that you’re soulmates?” She shrugged, her finger tracing over his mark delicately. “What should we do?” 

She looked up at him, a silent question in her eyes. “We can’t… go against it. It’s-It’s…” Her eyes focused on his lips and he watched her closely, letting her cup his cheeks. “We have to… try, right?” He nodded, cupping her own cheeks. 

Slowly, they moved closer together. When their lips met, no matter how much a cliche it sounded like in his head, he felt sparks. It was as if they were made for each other and he wondered if they actually were. 

They pulled apart, Betty giving him a small smile. “Would you call me crazy if I told you I’ve thought about kissing you since we were twelve?” 

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Would you call me crazy if I told you I’ve thought the same thing?” They both laughed, Betty squealing lightly as he laid her down on the bed, kissing her deeply. 

Maybe the dumb mark he always wanted to avoid wasn’t so terrible at all.

**Author's Note:**

> if you made it this far, hi again! i know this was the most boring thing i probably could have written, but i’m just kind of coming back into the fandom and i wanted something easy to write.


End file.
